Legendary Eagles Founding Member And Bass Guitarist Randy Meisner Dead Aged 77

Randy Meisner, one of the founding members of the legendary Californian rock band The Eagles passed away aged 77 this Wednesday, July 26.

A statement released by the band on its website revealed that the guitarist died from complications caused by chronic pulmonary disease. “Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band. His vocal range was astonishing, as is evident on his signature ballad, ‘Take It to the Limit’”, they wrote.

Meisner was with Poco before joining the Eagles

Before shooting to fame with the Eagles, Meisner was a part of the Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band. In the late 1960s, he was also the bass player with Poco, the country-rock group, which was spawned from the demise of Buffalo Springfield.

Meisner quit the band in 1977 but not before featuring on some of their biggest hits. He played on the band’s self-titled debut album in 1972 and stayed with them right through to 1877’s iconic Hotel California. Ironically, when he left, Meisner was replaced by the same man who took his place in Poco – Timothy B Schmit.

In the early 1970s, the Eagles started out as a backing band in Los Angeles for country legend Linda Rondstadt. At that time the lineup was Meisner along with Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey. They went on to become of of the world’s biggest-selling acts, with Don Felder, Joe Walsh and Schmit joining their ranks through the years.

The Eagles Greatest Hits album is one of the biggest-selling of all time

At one point, the 1976 album ‘Their Greatest Hits (1971-75)’ was the top-selling disc in the history of the American charts. With all-time album sales of 101 million – including 13 platinum discs – the Eagles were ranked at No5 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 1998, Randy Meisner joined his Eagles bandmates to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His high harmonies were a distinctive sound on so many of the band’s smash hits.

He had the honour of co-writing ‘Take It To The Limit’ with the late Glen Frey, who composed or co-wrote the majority of their songs. He died in January 2016.